MARXISM AND EDUCATION

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Transcript of MARXISM AND EDUCATION

by: Nea Auxilio-BesmonteMA Educational ManagementPhilippine Normal UniversityLopez-Quezon CampusI. MARX AND ENGELS: THE CLASSICAL PARADIGMII. THE MARXIAN PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATIONIII. THE MARXISTSIV. CRITICISM ON MARXISM AND EDUCATIONI. MARX AND ENGELS:THE CLASSICAL PARADIGMKARL HEINRICH MARXMarx's theory on society, economy. politics-- collectively known as MARXISM-- hold that societies progress through the dialectic of class struggle, a conflict between the "bourgeoisie" and the "proletariat".- He was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist.- His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist movement.- His most famous writings are "The Communist Manifesto" which he co-wrote with his fellow German socialist, Friedrich Engels, and "The Capital".The materialist doctrine that men are products of circumstances and upbringing, and that, therefore, changed men are products of other circumstances and changed upbringing, forgets that it is men who change circumstances and that it is essential to educate the educator himself.The education system, as part of the super structure, therefore, was a reflection of the base structure and served to reproduce it.The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness (MARX 1975: 425).Marx maintained that the political system, the legal system, the family, the press, the educational system, were all rooted in the final analysis, to the class nature of society, which in turn was a reflection of the economic base."LIFE IS NOT DETERMINED BY CONSCIOUSNESS BUT CONSCIOUSNESS BY LIFE"FREIDRICH ENGELSWhen Marx died in October 1883, he devoted the rest of his lifetranslating and editing Marx's works.He was the co-founder of modern Communism and Socialism together with Karl Marx.- He co-wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848.THE MARXIAN PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATIONMARXISM holds that human actions and institutions are economically determined and that class struggle is needed to create historical change and that capitalism will ultimately be superseded by communism.They do not agree with functionalists and others that it is a meritocratic systems but rather, it keeps the inequalities found in the capitalist society.LOUIS ALTHUSERA neo-Marxist, Althuser looked at how we are "conned" into accepting the inequality in education.He argued that education convinces the pupils that the capitalist system is fair (part of the false consciousness Marx talked about) and that children are prepared in school for their exploitation in workplace.-- the key ways these are done are:1. Via the "hidden curriculum" -- students are trained to follow orders and instructions at school thus, preparingthem of the same work.2. REWARDS-- exams the rewards to studentswho work hard, even though they are totally bored with the work they do.3. In Marxist, language students are "alienated" they often don't see the relevance of what they are studying. This is the same in the world of work, where the only reward is often only the money earned.BOWLES & GINTIS--In "Schooling in Capitalist Society", Bowles and Gintis claim that schools reward conformity over intelligence and achievement.In their study on American high school students, they found that the best grades were achieved by hardworking obedient students rather than the creative, aggressive, and independent ones.They also noted that schools correspond with boring factory line production to prepare future workers for their lot in their society.The school is not meritocratic, they pretend to be.PAUL WILLISWorking class students see through the "smoke screen of false consciousness, that is they know that they were destine to fail exams and their anti-school stance was in part a rejection of the values of the school.By failing the education they were being well prepared for the type of work they went into.THE MYTH OF EDUCATIONINTELLIGENCE/+ DEDICATION = EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS= MONETARY SUCCESRalph Miliband ("The State in capitalist Society")-- Being born of well-to-do parents gives certain benefits, some of which derive from the better material circumstances of the family.Money can't buy you Love but it can buy an EducationPAULO FREIREHis book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972) continues to be an example of how Marxist revolutionary politics can be worked into educational theory and practice.This kind of education has become known as critical (sometimes dialogical) pedagogy and it involves teachers using classrooms for a critique of bourgeois ideology or the worldviews of the oppressors.The views of the oppressed themselves, the students, are given a voice and a legitimacy. They are not suppressed by a dominant teacher who tells them ‘how it is’ and ‘what they must do’.Instead teachers and students seek to challenge traditional models of their relationship, working through together in a mutual dialogue how the world is and naming it according to these suppressed interpretations.For Freire this praxis is revolutionary because the ideas, language and concepts of the oppressed will threatenand potentially overcome the bourgeois relations of domination, both in education and in the wider society.This critical education aims to undermine bourgeois ideology and to transform undemocratic forms of society into free and democratic socialist societies.The Marxist approach to education is broadly constructivist, and emphasizes activity, collaboration and critique, rather than passive absorption of knowledge, emulation of elders and conformism; it is student-centered rather than teacher centered, but recognizes that education cannot transcend the problems and capabilities of the society in which it is located.THE MARXISTSCRITICISMS:1. Many argued that its thesis about the structural features of ideology — that ideology was built into the system and would corrupt all attempts to overthrow it — was over-deterministic.a. Marxism is accused of being "economically determinist". That is, the idea that Marxists over-exaggerate the importance of economic relationships; relationships that are seen to determine the shape taken by all other relationships (family, education, friendship, religious and so forth).b. By concentrating upon economic relationships and conflicts Marxists tend to either overlook other forms of (non-economic) conflict or attempt to explain these conflicts as ultimately having economic roots.2.The role of education has been over simplified.3.Students do see the system as unfair4.All students do not conform to the rules and regulations of school life.5. People do have different abilities and some skills are in short supply, therefore it is functionally necessary that some will earn more than others.“The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother's care, shall be in state institutions.” -- KARL MARXREFERENCES:http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Marxism.htmhttp://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-marx.htmhttp://www.blacksacademy.net/content/3225.htmlhttp://www.marxists.org/subject/education/index.htmhttp://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/marxianperspectivesoneducation.pdfhttp://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0859508.htmlhttp://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0859507.htmlhttp://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1953/onmarx/on-marxism.htmhttp://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/philosophy/articles/sayers/cohen.pdf